Month: July 2018

In 1982 the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Development program was established by Congress to provide seed capital for research and development through 11 Government Agencies. For profit companies with less than 500 employees that are majority owned by US Citizens or permanent resident aliens are invited to submit proposals for a chance at funding for their innovative idea. Eleven Government Agencies (such as USDA, NSF, and DoD) participate, and each agency handles the grant proposals, review, and selection differently.

For winning proposals, the USDA provides funding of $100,000 for eight (8) months to cover concept development. This is called a Phase I grant. If a company successfully navigates concept development, they may apply for a Phase II grant. If awarded, a Phase II grant supplies up to $600,000 for two more years of concept development. The ultimate goal is commercialization of a new technology or innovation.

Liz and Ann – Founders of Green Heron Tools

One company that at least in part owes its existence to the USDA SBIR program is Green Heron Tools. Based on the premise that garden tools work well for male body structures but not female, two dynamos, Liz Brensinger and Ann Adams, rounded up a team consisting of engineers, farmers and occupational therapists to develop a new concept: ergonomic garden tools for women. In 2008, Green Heron Tools launched.

Both women had full time day jobs and a dream to farm and sell their produce at farmers’ markets and restaurants. One of the women was a nurse and the other a public health educator by trade. They parlayed those skills into a consulting business, writing grants for not-for-profits. In their spare time they farmed a small plot of land in Pennsylvania. The women soon realized that the tools they were using on their small acreage farm were difficult to maneuver, inefficient, and not ergonomically correct. Because of their health backgrounds and aching bodies, they were painfully aware that this discomfort could lead to injury including cumulative trauma.

At one of the farmers’ markets where they sold their produce, the women struck up a conversation with a customer who just happened to be a mechanical engineer. They shared their idea for ergonomically designed garden tools with him. He was intrigued and quickly whipped up initial calculations proving ergonomically improved tools were possible. This motivated the women to conduct an on-line survey of women farmers. Through this they learned that THE single most important tool that needed a new design was a shovel. The women reached out to a state farming resource who told them about the USDA SBIR grants. The women applied, and in January 2009 they were awarded a $100,000 Phase I grant to develop their concept.

The team they recruited worked with them to bring that concept to reality. They conducted research and collected data. One of their team members turned out to be a doctoral student who decided to write his dissertation on designing ergonomic tools for women. Another, an engineer, used the research data collected to design several shovels and then created prototypes that were tested by women – students, gardeners, and farmers in the field. The researchers determined that women dig differently than men and thus need a different shovel design. The research data that was collected proved their hypothesis about ergonomics, shovel design, and the female anatomy.

It took months to fine tune the shovel design, locate a fabricator to do the manufacturing, determine sources for assembly and all the parts. Then, the fun part, what to call their new shovel. Team Liz and Ann decided to hold a Facebook contest to name their invention. This is where the term hergonomic was invented and where the “Hergonomic Shovel-Spade Hybrid” was born! Along the way there were wins and losses, but eventually the product launch occurred when Liz, Ann, and a car load of shovels made their way to the Mother Earth News Fair. More than two years after receiving the USDA Grant, HERS (the hershovel Hergonomic Shovel-spade hybrid) hit the market in 2011.

Ann and Liz have received a total of four Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants from the US Department of Agriculture, two Phase I grants and two Phase II grants. They are dedicated to staying true to their health-focused mission of creating sustainable green yard and farm tools ergonomically designed for women. Liz and Ann are the only full time employees of Green Heron tools, but jobs and the economy of the region and state are boosted because they are dedicated to sourcing their supply chain through state and regional manufacturers and suppliers.

I called Liz Brensinger for this article. She told me that she and her partner, Ann Adams, have a passion for health and experience in grant writing. Together they identified a need, found resources to develop an innovative product to fill that need, and continue to develop other ergonomic products that further their mission. Through survey results they identified a shovel held the greatest potential because it was identified as an ergonomic need and women were willing to pay a premium for it.

Along the way the women learned lessons such as, the price that people say they are willing to pay based on survey results doesn’t necessarily translate into what they are willing to pay when the product is available in the store. They learned that distribution of ergonomically correct tools is a challenge because inherently, ergonomic correctness is based on variables such as height. At the same time, many retail establishments can’t provide the space or buy the inventory for every size of tool. Also, the yard and farm tool business is somewhat cost prohibitive to break into and historically is male dominated. Despite business challenges, the women forge forward with new, innovative “hergonomic” products that fulfill their corporate mission.

Advice from these two trailblazers is simple. Follow your passion, don’t cut corners, and don’t chase money. Stay true to what got you started in the first place.

To all of you budding innovators out there — I am mentoring and coaching candidates for USDA SBIR Phase I grants. If you would like assistance in preparing a proposal for a Phase I SBIR grant, shoot me an e-mail at white.2811@osu.edu. The RFA for the next award will be released in early July 2018, and the proposals are due in early October 2018. The grant money itself will be released in January 2019. If you have the passion, time, and drive, I am here to help.

I have heard it said that everyone has one idea a year that if followed through, could result in a million-dollar business. What is your idea? Maybe a better question is, are you like Liz and Ann? Do you have what it takes to see it through to the end?

This is the third and final blog in a series I have done on the topics of the federal debt/deficit and why money in modern economies has value. I covered a lot of ground in the previous two blog entries.

In the first, which you can read here, I explained why politicians and some economists were wrong to throw up barriers to raising the deficit and the national debt in times when the economy is operating well below capacity, particularly in the years immediately following the Great Recession of 2007-2009.

In the second, which you can read here, I focused on the fact that taxation is what gives value to money that is not backed by something tangible like silver and gold (fiat currency).

The National Debt is Essential

To pause for a conclusion here, I want to emphasize that the national debt is actually essential to a modern economy. Every dollar that you have in your possession is a dollar that the US government has spent into existence and has not yet taxed. But that means it is federal debt, by definition.

So, all the savings that you and everybody else has, denominated in dollars, adds up to the national debt. Talk of eliminating the national debt is not only misguided, it is entirely foolish, because if we did that, all the savings you and everybody else had (denominated in dollars) would simply vanish! Those dollars in your wallet – checking account, or wherever – whoosh, gone instantly. There would be no modern monetary economy at all.

Okay, So Why Borrow to Finance the Deficit?

So if government spending exceeds the amount taken in by way of taxation, why does the government have to finance the cumulative difference (the debt) by selling bonds? Wouldn’t it be less stressful if we did not owe all that money to China or pension funds or to banks or to anyone? Why not just spend the money into existence without borrowing it?

Well probably the most obvious answer to these questions is that many of the ways that government officials and even economists think about money is a holdover from the gold standard era. Back then, governments were truly limited in what they could spend based on how much gold they had in reserve, because people could literally exchange their currency for government gold. In order to prevent people from doing this to the point that it ran out of gold reserves, a government would “soak up” extra currency by selling bonds to finance its debt. This would take currency out of the system for the time being with a promise to pay in the future, when presumably, there would be more gold on hand or the value of the currency would change.

But this is not necessary now because no one has the right to obtain government gold for their currency, since the gold standard is long gone everywhere.

But there is another, more practical reason the government finances its debt by selling bonds – and that is to create a market for them for the express purpose of manipulating interest rates.

Fractional Reserve Banking

When you deposit your money in the bank, that bank does not put your money in a safe and wait for you to come and retrieve it. The bank loans it out. But banks cannot lend out all the money they have on deposit, or they would be broke. They are required to maintain a fraction (about 10%) on hand. This number is called the reserve requirement ratio. Let’s say that at the end of a certain day, a bank is short on its reserve requirement. What should it do?

The first thing it does is consult other banks, because some of them may be over their reserve requirement. In this case the bank that is below would obtain an “overnight loan” from the bank that is above. The interest rate the bank pays on the loan is the overnight loan rate, also known as the “federal funds rate.” Its value fluctuates daily and you can easily obtain its current value by an Internet search. Many interest rates that you pay, including mortgage rates for a home or for a loan on a car, are related to the federal funds rate. So it is a very important item!

Where Bonds Come In

In the presence of a federal bond market, the US government, or its monetary representative the Federal Reserve, can influence the value of the federal funds rate by selling bonds (which takes money out of the system, raising rates) or by purchasing them (which puts money into the system, lowering rates). Normally, these practices are called “open market operations.”

Remember all the quantitative easing policies: QE1, QE2 and QE3? These were unprecedented levels of open market operations of Federal Reserve purchasing of bonds (and other assets before QE3 ended). These policies were undertaken to keep interest rates very low in order to stimulate the economy (making it easier for people to borrow to finance business loans, mortgages, auto loans).

Without the bond market, the federal government would not have that kind of control over interest rates. Some economists have argued that this would be a good thing. Some argue that the result would be a federal funds rate of zero permanently. Some claim that this in turn might very well lead to runaway inflation. But then again, many critics argued that the increasing government debt and quantitative easing would lead to hyperinflation – and that did not happen. However, we will probably never know because it does not seem realistic at the present moment to believe that the government of the US or any other entity that issues its own currency will ever give up the practice of issuing bonds to finance its debts. And, as I think I have shown in this series, there are bigger fish to fry than debating whether or not to abandon bonds.

With all the recent news around swimming advisories and beach closings – it is easy to become concerned about our local water bodies where we go to swim, fish, or enjoy the view. Ohio Sea Grant, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and many other state and local agencies work to provide up-to-date information on our local water resources. Here’s some more information about your water quality and where to look to find information about keeping you and your family safe while also being able to take advantage of the wonderful recreational water resources Ohio has to offer.

Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory will host a free public webinar on Thursday, July 12 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to explain NOAA’s 2018 Seasonal Forecast of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) for Lake Erie, including expert commentary, a discussion of the history of this issue on Lake Erie, Ohio’s response to the problem, and a Q&A session.
Registration is required.

Harmful Algal Bloom – what’s that?

This image shows a color spectrum of bloom density in Lake Erie on July 4, 2018, based on satellite detection of cyanobacteria. Grey indicates clouds or missing data.

Microcystis, and Planktothrix, and Dolichospermum oh my! Those names may sound foreign to you, but those are all species of harmful algal blooms, or HABs – any large increased density of algae that is capable of producing toxins. The HABs sighted on Lake Erie – and in some inland water bodies – tend to be cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae.

Where and when do HABs start in Lake Erie?

Because blue-green algae prefer warm water and high concentrations of phosphorus, they usually occur first in Maumee Bay at the mouth of the Maumee River and in Sandusky Bay at the mouth of the Sandusky River. Both bays are very warm and shallow and the watersheds of both rivers have very high percentages of farm land (the Maumee is the largest tributary to the Great Lakes and drains 4.2 million acres of agricultural land). As a result, both streams contain very high concentrations of phosphorus. E coli at beaches is the result of sewage, pet, or livestock waste from a nearby discharge or stream, and is not related to a harmful algal bloom.

How do I know whether it is safe to swim?

Before traveling, it may be a good idea to google the beach you’re visiting, and if possible call them to ask about any active advisories or warnings. One good resource is the ODNR Office of Coastal Management’s list of publicly accessible Lake Erie beaches at http://coastal.ohiodnr.gov/gocoast.

At the beach, look for orange or red signs – those indicate the two types of harmful algal bloom advisories/warnings.

An orange sign (advisory) means the water contains some toxin. Children and the elderly, people with health problems, and pets should avoid contact with the water.

A red sign (warning) means toxin levels are too high and everyone should avoid contact with the water.

If there are no signs, but the water looks bright green or has floating green scums, the Ohio EPA recommends a “when in doubt, stay out” approach.

Even if a beach has an advisory or warning posted, activities on land are perfectly safe, so there are still ways to enjoy a day at the beach.

What do toxin levels mean?

The World Health Organization (WHO) sets the maximum allowable concentration of microcystin in drinking water at 1 part per billion (ppb) — about equivalent to 1 drop of toxin in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Ohio has followed that recommendation so far, but is expected to convert to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines soon, which advise microcystin limits of 0.3 ppb for children under 6 and 1.6 ppb for the general population.

If toxins have been detected in one part of the lake, is the water in the whole lake unsafe?

Blooms are generally limited by water currents, winds and where nutrients enter the water. Toxin can persist in the water for more than 30 days, but is rapidly diluted and quickly reaches safe levels when the bloom dissipates and as one moves away from the bloom. Water treatment plants in Lake Erie’s western basin routinely monitor the water they bring in for human use, so affected areas can know about a problem quickly.

How is toxin removed from the water?

Water treatment plants use activated charcoal (also called activated carbon), as well as UV rays and other techniques, to remove toxic substances from the water. The toxins, such as microcystin, bind to the charcoal particles, which are then filtered out of the water again.

How do we expand employment opportunities and community leadership capacity as well as strengthen and leverage an area’s agricultural and natural resource-based economy within a three-county region? We marshal resources necessary to create three county-based Extension educator positions where the impact of the ‘full on’ Extension network and its collaborative efforts can be immediately felt.

James Morris and Brooke Beam recently joined long-time OSU Extension educator Dave Dugan in a three-county cluster in southwestern Ohio. James started most recently (May 29) in Brown County. Brooke Beam started March 26 and is based in Highland County. They will be working closely with Dave Dugan who will can now focus on Adams County; a welcome relief from his previous task covering all three of these counties. Brooke, James, and Dave bring a wide variety of experience and formal training in the areas of agronomy, agri-business, direct marketing, agricultural communication and Extension.

As a team, they will aim to address rural development needs in the three-county area. Specific areas of emphasis include: farm management, innovative ag-business enterprise development, and community leadership development, for example. A key program goal is to cultivate systems that support new rural economic development and business development opportunities.

Extension work is collaborative work. We are excited about the various ways that Brooke, James and Dave can work together and also in collaboration with community stakeholders, long-time partners and the many Extension colleagues that exist across the system.

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